A packaging and component delivery system for use in sterile medical or dental procedures.
For many surgical procedures conducted under conventional high standards of cleanliness and sterility (i.e. good aseptic technique), components or materials such as bone screws, implants, dental implants and components, suture materials and wound dressings, must be selected during the course of the procedure.
The surgeon may wear sterile gloves and sterile gown, and it would not be appropriate to handle the non-sterile exterior of a package. In current practice, this problem is usually overcome by asking an assistant who is not otherwise involved in the actual procedure to open the package and tip out the sterile contents onto a sterile surface, or otherwise permit the sterile item to be withdrawn from the packaging.
The present invention relates to an adaptation of existing packaging systems which will permit a non-sterile package to be selected and opened, and the sterile contents removed and delivered onto a sterile surface. This process may be carried out by the operator working under sterile operating conditions, without compromising the cleanliness or sterility of the procedure. This eliminates the need for an assistant, and facilitates the selection of exactly the items that the operator requires, with minimal interruption of the proceedings.